Abstract: At approximately 10:10 a.m. on October 29, 1991, Employees #1 and #2, laborers, were fitting pipe in a 12 ft deep trench. Employee #1 was at the north end, spreading gravel that had just been dumped in from the trench's west bank. Employee #2 was fitting a "T" near the south end, approximately 13 ft from Employee #1. Employee #2 recalled that he saw the bottom of the bank move, and then soil was suddenly on him. He was quickly rescued by fellow employees and a rescue team. He suffered a sprained back, but was not hospitalized. Employee #1 was caught in the center of the cave-in. By the time his head was uncovered, he was dead. He was pronounced dead at 10:40 a.m. by the county medical examiner. Due to the hazards involved in recovering his body, a special rescue team was called in from Tennessee. After shoring and bracing were installed in the trench, Employee #1 was hand-dug out of the trench. His body was removed at 8:40 p.m. There was no protection provided in the trench for employees, such as sloping, shoring, trench boxes, or jacks. There was also no safety and health program with safety rules relating to trenching, no specific safety training for employees performing work in or around trenches, no emergency egress provided for employees to quickly exit the trench, no competent person on site to determine safety precautions or to inspect conditions. If a competent person was on site, he/she did not remove the employees from a trench that was obviously hazardous until the appropriate protection could be provided.